


Friends, New and Old

by bryar6



Series: A Wizard's Beginnings [5]
Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Canon scene expanded on from a different POV, F/M, I don't know what tags i should put, You know the scene, character backstory, expanding on the plot some, go look at my longer fic with chapters its better right now lol, when Claire gets posessed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:07:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26784133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bryar6/pseuds/bryar6
Summary: Douxie sees some familiar faces at work and hears an oddly familiar voice spoken by one of them but just can't place it...Plus, he and Zoe have a little niffin hunting and burgers night.
Relationships: Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan/Zoe
Series: A Wizard's Beginnings [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1941658
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	Friends, New and Old

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this sitting around for a while, thought I'd add it to this series because it couldn't hurt, lol. Forgive me if I get the details of the 'Claire is possessed at dinner' scene, just a fun little fic and of course just some good ole Douxie. I haven't done a thorough editing, oh well, the errors are what they are, lol.

It is a late Sunday night at the bistro. Weekend nights always are, Douxie reminds himself. He makes his way around tables, refilling waters here, seating patrons there, taking an order. It’s typical. Centuries of customer service have sort of made this a more or less easy day-to-day task for him, but he does tire of it easily. 

Douxie shoulders into the kitchen for a quick moment to breathe away from all the people. “How’s it going, Chuck?” he asks, passing a cook. 

The older man shrugs, and then smiles. “Same old same old. Feel like I’ve been doing this for hundreds of years. I’ll get out of here one day.” 

“Tell me about it,” Douxie laughs. _If he only knew._ “Roxanne, holding together?” 

“Yep. Just another busy night. You’re off soon, lucky bastard.” The dishwasher shakes her head and moves to let Douxie pass. Before he can even get to the break room, someone is already shouting his name. 

“Douxie! Got a table outside for you! Joanne is busy with a couple upstairs,” calls Devin. 

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” he grumbles. Picking his way through the throngs of customers, he reaches the outdoor dining and draws a notepad and pen out of his apron. _Looks like date night for some people, eh?_

It’s none other than Claire, her boyfriend, and a couple of their friends. This is a bit of a relief to Douxie. At the very least he knows they won’t yell at him and Jim always tips astonishingly well. 

“Welcome to Benoits! Nice to see some friendly faces.” 

Claire smiles at him uneasily and Jim casts daggers at Douxie. When he receives very little response, he prompts them. _By Merlin’s beard, this was already getting awkward. So much for friendly faces._

“Steaks, all around, please,” Jim requests, in a cutting tone. The others cast him strange looks, but Douxie concedes when no one speaks up.

“Excellent choice. And how would you like them done?” 

It’s a chorus of “well-done” until he reaches Claire, who seems to have grown paler by the minute. Personally, he always thinks medium-rare is the way to go.

“And for the lady?”

“Raw! Dripping with blood!” She practically screams and he jumps back. Her voice is eerily grating, and almost familiar. He just can’t quite place it. 

“And two for the lady, raw and dripping with blood. Got it.” Douxie marks the absurd request down, hoping it’s even possible. He can tell something’s not right and it bothers him as he reenters the restaurant. His hunches aren’t usually misplaced. He hands the order over to the cooks and finally gets back to the break room. He gets a glass of water and sits down, trying to shush that nagging voice in his head. 

It’s been a very, very long time since he’s heard that voice, he thinks. But it just can’t be possible. She was just Claire, and a mortal at that. He must be hearing things with his age. 

He quickly delivers the food to them as soon as it’s ready, willing to attempt a little small-talk with them. Afterall, he has so few friends around here. 

“Claire, I’ve got to hear your band at some point-”

“Begone, servant,” she hisses. Douxie flinches. _Well, that’s new._

“My apologies,” he says, spinning on his heels. Jim seems to smirk at that, which just rubs Douxie the wrong way. _Something’s not right._

With a few quick good-nights to his coworkers and grabbing some leftovers for Archie, he’s out the door and jogging down the street. It’s monster hunting night with Zoe, as a lot of Sunday nights usually are. A different sort of “date” than the one he just waited, he thinks to himself, amused. Douxie stops in front of the record store and tugs at the door handle. It’s locked. He raps the glass and waves through at Zoe, who is sorting vinyls. 

The noise startles her and she turns, rolling her eyes when she sees him. She opens the door for him but stands in the doorway. 

“Can’t you see the sign? We’re closed,” she says with a smirk.

“That’s mighty unfortunate. And to think I was going to hunt niffins and eat out tonight. Suppose I’ll just head home then.” He sighs loudly and spins on his heel. 

“Oh, cut it out. Drama queen,” she scoffs, tugging his sleeve and pulling him into the store. 

“Why, thank you, kind soul, for admitting me into this place,” he says with mock appreciation. “Ah. I just love the smell of old plastic.” 

“You like the smell of old books, which is much weirder. That’s like enjoying the scent of decaying paper.” Zoe sifts through sleeves again, filing away a few last ones. 

“It is not! Old books smell like history, and fairytales, and- and-” Douxie throws his hands up in exasperation. “Why do I bother? You'll never get it.” 

“Uh huh. Give me a minute, I need to change, and then we’ll have some fun.” Zoe leaves him to wander the store. Not that he isn’t quite familiar with the place. He often spends free time here, with a pair of headphones on, music playing, and just sitting around doing his best not to bother Zoe when she actually has things to do. When the store is empty, however, he’s often easily found making distractions. 

Zoe returns, in a largely black outfit, her shirt displaying some new band’s symbol. Her jeans are ripped, as is the trend, which amuses Douxie. The amount of clothes he’s ripped over the years and simply tossed would be considered an outrage to modern fashion. “I’m ready if you are.” 

“Of course. Archie’s sitting this one out tonight, poor fellow is plagued with hair balls. So, I was thinking we head for 5th Ave?” Douxie slips his hood up and activates his gauntlet, drawing up a light spell. 

“I’m game,” she answers, producing a small wand. She smiles. “Been too long since we’ve done this.” 

Douxie grins and heads onto the street, cutting through some alleyways. Zoe is close on his heels. A flurry of movement catches his eye. “Ah! There!” He points to a shadowy figure slipping around a corner. They chase after it, each taking a side and driving it into a dead end. Zoe sends a couple of blasts towards it, pinning it in the corner. 

“Tenebris excellium!” Douxie casts, preparing to banish it. It’s a spell he appreciates. The many-eyed creature lets out a few unearthly shrieks before it’s swallowed by the spell. “I always love doing that.” 

“It’s unfair, you always get the big spells.” A growl comes from further down the street, becoming louder. Zoe takes a position against Douxie’s back, holding her wand in front of her. “Doux, I don’t think this one is a niffin.”

“Me neither. Think we can handle this?” 

“Maybe. I want to try first. We haven’t had a real go in too long.” Zoe plants her shoulders against Douxie’s as a second low growl comes from above. He can feel the tension in her muscles. 

“That’s the spirit,” Douxie says, adrenaline spiking. 

The two creatures descend at the same time. They’re large, grey, and dripping wet. They seem to slither across the ground, no legs to be had. In a blur of pink and blue magic, the pair beat back the monsters, casting spells and dodging attacks. Zoe is knocked away and Douxie leaps to cover her, throwing a shield up around them. 

“What’s our next move?” He strains under the effort of keeping the shield up. “What even are they?”

Zoe shakes her head. “Archie would know. I think we’re in too deep with this one. I say we get out of here while we still can.” 

Another blow to the shield drops Douxie to his knees and he realizes she’s probably right. “Okay then. On my word, we run.” He grabs her hand, and turns to face the creatures, waiting for them to draw back. “Andddddd...go!” 

The two take off running into the street and towards the town center. “I think that’s all excitement I can handle for tonight,” Zoe says, rubbing her eyes. “I am, however, still down for burgers if you are.” 

“Absolutely.” 

The burger place is on the far end of town, and when they get there, they’re a bit sore and tired of walking. Covering ground that fast isn’t usually among the things they get around to on hunting nights. 

“I have to say, these sorts of nights are usually my favorite,” Douxie comments. Zoe smiles. 

“Well, when we’re not getting killed, sure.” She opens the door, bell going off, and enters behind him. “But what’s life without a little adventure?”

“You know, I had the strangest encounter with a patron tonight. You know Claire, right?” They slide into a booth, taking opposite sides. 

“Yeah, she’s part of that Mama Skull band. They usually get runner-up to you. What about her?” Zoe narrows her eyes a little, almost looking suspicious. 

“She was out with Jim tonight and a couple friends, and I swear her voice was completely different. It was...off. And I keep thinking I knew that voice.” He waves his straw in the air before punching it through the plastic lid. “Like I was familiar with it.”

“Doux, you’ve met and heard the voices of a lot of people over the years. It can’t be all that unusual to hear a similar sounding one hear and there.” Zoe does her best to keep the conversation neutral; so far, none of the other customers seem to be paying them any heed. 

“I considered that, but there’s just something about this one I can’t put my finger on. It’ll come to me.” Their food comes and they break into it, eating and talking. 

“So I keep thinking about getting a few more tattoos, I’ve got a few ideas but at the same time I’m always hesitant to actually do it, you know?”

Douxie nods, and finishes chewing to respond. “That’s the one nice thing we don’t have to worry about though; it doesn’t matter what it’ll look like in some years.” He laughs. Being immortal comes with it’s perks here and there. 

“Read anything interesting lately?” She asks, reaching over and taking Douxie’s drink. 

“Hey!” He attempts to snatch it back but she leans away from him. “Why do I bother? Just don’t drink it all. I actually haven’t gotten around to much lately, been focusing a bit more on my sheet music. Got that rehearsal coming up rather quickly.”

“You’ll have to invite me over some night you’re playing. Been too long since I’ve heard that racket. I’m happy to be your drummer if you need one, though.”

“Cheeky. If I didn’t know better I’d say that was an insult. And actually, I may very well recruit you. Our drummer quit some months ago and now that you’re done with your old band, well. I’ll get back to you on that.”

“An insult? Never,” she says, smiling. Douxie’s eyes go wide, and in his hurry to speak he chokes on his drink. “Careful there, can’t have you almost dying twice in one night.”

He has a small coughing fit before he can squeak it out. “She’s back. It’s her. It’s Morgana.”

Zoe’s brow knits. “You...what?” 

“It’s her voice, the one I heard tonight, she’s probably possessing Claire,” he whispers, a little too loudly. A couple of patrons glance their way. 

“Alright Doux, let’s go home.” She gives him a look and he shuts up. 

As soon as they make their way out of the door, he’s already tugging at his hair. 

“I can’t believe I didn’t realize! And of course Merlin’s nowhere to be found. We can’t risk exposing ourselves.”

“Let’s just let it play out, okay? It’s possible that you just interpreted it wrong.” But even Zoe looks concerned. Her hair slips into her eyes and prevents Douxie from noticing anything more she might have been feeling. 

“I just don’t know. It seems risky.” He sighs, hand clasping his gauntlet. “You may be right. And I guess if anything does develop, then we step in, right?”

“Right. I’m sure it’ll all be fine.”

But he’s not so sure, and carries that uneasy feeling until he falls asleep.


End file.
